Taipei, May 28, 2007 (CENS)--The Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), Taiwan`s No. 2 thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel supplier, recently claimed that its monthly shipment of twisted nematic (TN) LCD TV panels would reach one million units in the second half of this year, while the global annual demand is expected to reach about 17 million units.

According to L. Y. Chen, director of marketing and sales of LCD TV division of Chi Mei Optoelectronics, the 26-inch TN TV panel is rapidly grabbing an increasing market share eroding the original market shares for 20- and 21-inch cathode-ray tube (CRT) TVs. Such a product replacement trend started in mainland China, Chen said, and would gradually extend into the U.S. market this year.

The shipment of TN TV panels is expected to become the major growth momentum for CMO`s shipment volume.

Industry sources said that almost every Chinese TV brand has been actively introducing LCD TV models using 26-inch TN panels to replace the 20- and 21-inch CRT TV models, including TCL and Konka. Some American brands have also begun promoting such products into the U.S. market.

According to Chen, currently about 70 million 20- and 21-inch CRT TVs are sold globally per year and about one-fourth of the demand for such CRT-TVs will go to 26-inch TN LCD TV models, generating a big annual demand for about 17 million 26-inch TN LCD TVs.

As the only supplier of 26-inch TN TV panels, Chen said, CMO anticipate such product to play a vital role in bolstering CMO`s TV-panel sales.

Chen also added that the production of 26-inch TN TV panels is reaching a scale of economy at fifth-generation (5G), 5.5G, and 6G panel facilities with a substrate utilization rate of 91%, 89%, and 93%, respectively. In addition, production of such panels can help upgrade the equipment-utilization periods and the three different generation plants can flexibly support the production of such product in peak seasons.

The director is optimistic that the 26-inch TN TV panel will become another rising star in CMO`s product lists following the 19-inch wide-format monitor panels. CMO has successfully localized the production of most key parts of the TN TV panels.

CMO and Acer began pushing their 19-inch wide-format monitor panel and models. The former then enjoyed a very lucrative margin with such new-format panel, while the latter defeated Dell in the LCD monitor market.

(by Quincy Liang)